【推荐1】Dear Donna,

Help! I’m a 15-year-old middle school student in New York. In eight months, I’m going to take an entrance exam. To prepare for it, I’m studying six hours a day. I want to do well, but I’m really stressed (焦虑不安的) these days. I can’t sleep. What can I do?

Yours,

Mary

Dear Mary,

Many students around the world have the same problems as you. Here is some advice to help you deal with the stress. Good luck!

1. Make a study plan for yourself, but don’t study too much in one day. You remember more by studying one hour each day for six days than six hours in one day. Also, don’t study late at night.

2. Have a rest for 15 to 20 minutes every two hours. Go outside and walk. Doing exercise is a great way to reduce stress.

3. Don’t eat for drink a lot of sugar or drink a lot of coffee. Eat food high in vitamin (维生素) B (for example, eggs, milk, green vegetable and rice). These give you energy and help you think more clearly.

4. A student partner can help you practice for the test. When you’re worried about the exam, you can talk to your partner. This can reduce stress, too.

Yours,

Donna

1. What is Mary’s problem?

A．She is so worried and can’t sleep.	B．She can’t pass the exam.
C．She can’t communicate with others.	D．She can’t study English well.

2. Donna thinks that ________ can help Mary think more clearly.

A．eating a lot of sugar	B．studying six hours every day
C．drinking a lot of coffee	D．eating foods high in vitamin B

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to Donna’s letter?

A．The best time to study is from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

B．Walking outside can make you remember more

C．It’s good to tell a study partner about your feeling.

D．It’s necessary to have a rest for 15 to 20 minutes an hour.

【推荐2】“I sometimes get up at three or four in the morning and I surf（冲浪）the net.”

“I often check my e-mails forty times a day.”

“I often spend more than three hours during one time on the net.”

“I spend more time in chat rooms than with my real-life friends.”

Do you know any people like these? They are part of a new addiction（上瘾） called Internet addiction. Internet addicts spend at least thirty to forty hours online every week. The use of the Internet can be an addiction like drug（毒品） use. People lose control of the time they spend on the Internet.

For example, one middle school student was missing for several days. His teachers and friends were worried, and his parents called the police. The police found the student in the Internet bar—he was surfing the net for two days.

Studies show that about 6% to 10% of Internet users become addicted. And people worry about the teens because the Internet is changing the playing field for some of them. They spend more time on the Internet than in the real world of friends and family.

Is “surfing the net” a hobby or an addiction for you? You may have a problem if you have the following symptoms（症状）.

You do not go to important family activities or you do not do school work because you like to spend hours on the Internet.

• You can’t wait for your next online time.

• You plan to spend a short time online, but then you spend several hours.

• You go out with your friends less and less.

1. How many hours do Internet addicts spend online every week?

A．At least 30 to 40 hours.	B．About 13 to 14 hours.
C．At most 30 hours.	D．Less than 30 hours.

2. When you ________, you may have an addiction to surfing the net.

A．spend several hours online every week

B．don’t go online for a long time

C．like to go to the family activities

D．go out with your friends less and less

3. What’s the best title of the text?

A．No drugs!	B．No Internet addiction!
C．No computer games!	D．No surfing!

【推荐1】Do you often run outdoors to keep healthy? Have you ever thought about how running helps to clean up the earth? Sometimes creative mind can bring us win-win (双赢) situation.

Plogging, a new way to exercise, began in Sweden. The name “plogging” comes from two words—the Swedish word “plocka”, which means “to pick up”, and the word “jogging”, which means “to run slowly”. A Swedish man called Eric started the movement. He saw rubbish here and there when riding to work each day. He became worried about the dirty environment and decided not to go to work by bike any more. Instead, he began to run to work and pick up the rubbish at the same time. To his joy, more and more people followed him and soon plogging became popular.

Many people choose plogging instead of just jogging because they think plogging is a good way to help clean up the earth. Sometimes rubbish is difficult to collect because it may scatter all around. But if the runners pick up the rubbish on the way, it is quite different. After all, many hands make light work. Another reason is that plogging burns 48 calories (卡路里). According to a reseach, plogging for 10 minutes burns 48 calories, while usual jogging for 10 minutes burns about 39 calories.

Everyone on the earth should play apart in cleaning it up! It’s time for us to take action together. So ready? Let’s plog tomorrow!

1. What did Eric do after he saw rubbish everywhere while riding to work?

A．He began to pick up the rubbish while running to work every day.

B．He kept riding to work every day.

C．He didn’t care and did nothing about it.

D．He took a bus to work instead of riding every day.

2. The underlined word “scatter” means ________ in Chinese.

A．爆炸

B．集中

C．散落

D．消失

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The name “plogging” comes from two English words.

B．An Englishman called Eric started plogging.

C．Plogging for 10 minutes burns about 84 calories.

D．Plogging started in Sweden.

4. What’s the best title (标题) of the passage?

A．A Bad Habit—Littering	B．The Best Sport—Jogging
C．A New Way to Exercise—Plogging	D．The Best Exercise—Riding

【推荐2】Robots may do something better than human beings. For example, autistic (患自闭症的) children may learn better from robots than from human beings, according to a study at a school in Birmingham.

Two robots like humans, Max and Ben, have been helping teach autistic children at Topcliffe Primary School since March last year. The school is the first in the UK to try the new way. Ian Lowe, the head teacher said, “The robots have no feelings, so autistic children find that they are less terrible than their teachers.” He added, “They are really cute-looking. It’s hard for autistic children to communicate with adults and other children, but for some reasons they like these robots. Some children are not able to communicate with others. But they come into school and start to communicate through the robots.”

The robots are knee-high and move like children. The school is using them to teach phonics (声学) and play cards or memory and imitation (模仿) games with children from 5:00 to 10:00. Dr Guldberg said, “We do many different activities with the robots acting as a model for the children’s behavior. It is amazing to see how interested and concentrated the children can be when they are working with the robots. It can be very difficult to make autistic children concentrate.” He added. “If you can meet the needs of autistic children, you can meet the needs of all children. And you know, when people feel safe and interested, they learn much better.”

1. How are teachers in autistic children’s eyes according to Ian Lowe?

A．Kind.

B．Serious.

C．Terrible.

D．Strict.

2. Which is TRUE about Max and Ben?

A．They are robots with feelings.

B．They can move like teachers.

C．They are interested in autistic children.

D．They can make autistic children interested in the activities.

3. Which of the Mowing does NOT the school use the two robots to teach?

A．Phonics.

B．Playing cards.

C．Imitation games.

D．Sports games.

4. What can people do when they feel safe and interested according to Dr Guldberg?

A．Communicate better with others.	B．Do better in study.
C．Behave more politely.	D．Speak more quickly.

5. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Robots help autistic children study	B．Two cute-looking robots
C．How to help autistic children learn	D．Autistic children can learn well

【推荐3】If you go into the forest with your friends, stay with them. If you don’t, you may get lost. What should you do if you really get lost? You should sit down and stay where you are. You mustn’t try to find your friends. Let them find you. If you want your friends to find you, you need to stay in one place. You can also shout three times. Then stop. Then shout three times again. Keep up shouting. Always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you need help and where you are.

If you don’t think that you can get help before night comes, you should make a little house with some small trees and branches( 树枝)or something else. And make yourself a bed with leaves and grass.

When you need some water and you have to leave your little house to look for it, don’t just walk away. Leave small branches or something else on the way and then you can find your way.

1. If you get lost in the forest, you should ________.

A．try to find your friends

B．stay where you are

C．walk around the forest

2. You should ________ if nobody helps you before night.

A．shout loudly

B．look for friends everywhere

C．make a house with something

3. When people hear the shouts, they will know that ________.

A．someone needs help

B．a bear is coming

C．someone gets injured

4. When you got to look for some water, you need to ________.

A．cut down some trees

B．make another house

C．leave branches on the way

5. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Travel in the Forest

B．Spend a Night in the Forest

C．What to Do When Lost in the Forest

【推荐1】Many of us may have experienced the pleasant moment of seeing recommended songs after we listen to some songs on a music app. When we open shopping websites, we often see things we want to buy on the home page. The businessman can decide which is the best place to build a new entrance in a big supermarket in the city center. If you want to take a taxi on a taxi app, it can even guess where you want to go before you tell it! Aren’t these things amazing?
This is based on data (数据). Data is no longer only about numbers, but information from almost every side of our lives: our shopping habits, interests or what we eat. All of this is called “big data”. In December, 2017, President Xi Jinping called for China to speed up its big data strategy (战略) to better serve social and economic (经济的) development. As a result, people’s lives can be improved as well. He also asked for greater use of big data in areas like education, social security and transportation.
We have seen big data being used more often in China in the past few years. The role it plays in tourism (旅游业) is just one example. Many travelers today like to share their experiences with others on the Internet. All the data that travelers share online is helping the tourism industry get a lot of information. After the data is analyzed (分析), these tour sights can know about travelers’ needs better. In this way, services will be improved, which is helpful to the development of the whole industry. As a result, travelers can expect better tours in the future.
Moreover, big data is also an important growth tool for economic development. With growth rate of 30 percent every year, sales of big data industry in China will reach one trillion yuan yearly by 2020. Having so many good influences, big data is sure to be seen more and more in China.
1. According to Paragraph 1, big data can help people ______.

A．buy songs from a music app

B．design home pages for websites

C．take a taxi without paying for it

D．make better decisions in business

2. Data from travelers is analyzed in order to ______.

A．share travelling experiences online

B．expect better travelers in the future

C．improve services of the tour sights

D．know the needs of tour sights better

3. After reading the passage, we know that ______.

A．the speed of big data development in China now is enough

B．people have few chances to use big data at present in China

C．sales of big data industry are growing fast every year by 30%

D．big data improve people’s life before the social development can be realized

4. Which of the following words can describe the writer’s feeling towards big data?

A．Sad.

B．Bored.

C．Hopeful.

D．Careful.

5. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Big Data Brings Good Music

B．Big Data Influences China

C．Tourism Gets Help from Big Data

D．Sales of Big Data Industry in China

【推荐2】It was a warm April day when a big fat envelope came in the mail from the only college I had ever imagined attending. My eyes were fixed on the word "congratulations". I don't remember ever smiling so wide.

Then I looked at my financial (财政的) package. The cost of Dream School's tuition (学费), room and board was around $ 40,000-an impossible number! How could I afford to attend? What good reasons did I have to go there when three other fine colleges were offering me free tuition? My other choices were good, even if they weren't as famous as my first choice.

In my mind, attending my dream university would be the only way to realize my dream of becoming a world-class writer. My parents understood how I felt. They told me that even though it would be a financial problem, I could go wherever I would be happiest. But as I was always careful with money, I wasn't sure what to do.

One of the schools that offered me a full ride had an informational dinner one night in the spring. Considering my parents' difficulties, I decided to drive the 45 minutes and attend. At first, all I had planned to do was smile politely, eat free food, listen quietly. But I surprised myself.

At dinner the president of the university talked about the wonderful activities at school including guest lectures and social gatherings. He also made it perfectly clear that free food would be offered at all future events. He continued with explanations of professors, class sizes, activities, and sporting events at school. As he spoke, I began to realize that this school, though not as good as my first choice, might be the best one for me. It seemed small yet with many great programs. It seemed challenging yet caring.

After that I walked out that door, a feeling of comfort washed over me. Looking at the campus that night, I realized that I would be spending the next four years right there.

In all honesty, my university is not as well-known as my "dream" university. However, it turned out to be the right choice of schools for me.

1. How did the author feel when he started to read the letter?

A．He was full of joy.	B．He was lost in his dream.
C．He was worried about the money.	D．He was uncertain which school to go to.

2. We learn from the passage that the parents were _____.

A．honest

B．strict

C．supportive

D．cruel

3. The underlined phrase "offered me a full ride" can be replaced by "_____".

A．would pay for transport to the school	B．would show me around the campus
C．would offer free meals at all events	D．would charge me nothing for tuition

4. What does the author mainly want to say?

A．Your second-choice college may actually be your best fit.

B．You should consider comfort in your choice of schools.

C．You should try your best to attend your dream school.

D．Your choice of schools should be based on their fame.

5. Which is the best title of the reading?

A．Dream School	B．A Wise Choice
C．A Wise President	D．Free Tuition

【推荐3】John and Oliver were good friends. Sometimes they were kind to each other, but sometimes they were not. All of their classmates said they were like brothers. They also sat together in the classroom.

One day they went out for a walk together. At noon they were very hungry and they went into a restaurant to have lunch. The waiter came up to them and asked, “What can I do for you?” “Please bring us two apples first.” said John.

When the waiter put two apples on the table, Oliver took the bigger one at once. John got angry. “You are impolite, Oliver. Why don’t you take the smaller one?” John said. “But I am right,” said Oliver with a smile.“If I let you take first, which one will you choose?” “Of course I’ll take the smaller one,” said John. “Yes,” Oliver said. “If you take the smaller one, the bigger one will still be mine. Don’t you think so?”

“Oh!” John couldn’t answer.

根据短文内容判断正误，正确为A，错误为B。
1. John and Oliver didn’t sit together in the classroom.
2. One day they went to a restaurant to have lunch.
3. In the restaurant they asked the waiter to give them two bananas.
4. Oliver got the bigger apple at once.
5. This article tells us that we needn’t be polite to our friends.